Perhaps the most stunning sequence
in Part I is the juxtaposition of the bass
soloist’s aria “The People That Walked
in Darkness,” with the beloved chorus
“For Unto Us a Child Is Born.” In a
marvelous example of musical text
painting, the bass literally wanders in
a chromatically confused maze in the
dark key of B minor. The “great light”
for which he yearns is then joyfully revealed in G major as the chorus salutes
Jesus’ birth.
All the choruses, including the
“Hallelujah,” demonstrate Handel’s
exhilarating technique of mixing
powerful homophonic or chordal utterances (“Mighty! Counselor!”) with
a more intricate polyphonic style in
which each voice part pursues its own
elaborately decorated line (“For Unto
Us a Child Is Born”). The origins of
the ritual of standing for the “Hallelujah” Choru